I generally make a long term plan for what I will preach and rarely will I deviate from that plan. Sue came to me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to preach on love for the Sunday before Valentine’s Day, and as you know, I have a hard time saying no to her. My message this Sunday is Love, True Love, from 1 John 4:7-12. 

The apostle John writes a lot on the subject of love and especially so in his epistles. In our text this Sunday he makes a statement about love that reveals the very nature of God: “God is love.” John actually states it twice in the 4th chapter. It’s not that God gives love, or shares love, or is loving. No, God is love, meaning love defines His very nature and His nature defines what love is. We would all agree that showing love is not something only reserved for Christians. I personally know many very loving non Christians and at the same time I know some Christians that are not very loving.  However, to truly love, as God defines love, you have to be on the receiving end of God’s love yourself in order to show love to others. Christ is not only the source of all love but He is the great demonstration of love through His death on a cross, providing the example of how we are to love: with sacrifice and for another’s benefit. The application of that love must be seen in marriage relationships, parent-child relationships, in the Body of Christ and from Christians to the unbelieving world around us. Join me this Sunday for a look at Love, Ture Love.